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Sideshow
| season = 2 | number = 2 | image = File:Sideshow Title Card.jpg | imagewidth = 250 | airdate = May 3, 1994 | director = Boyd Kirkland | writer = | story = Michael Reaves | teleplay = Michael Reaves Brynne Stephens | music = Michael McCuistion | previous1 = House & Garden | next1 = Avatar | previous2 = The Worry Men | next2 = A Bullet for Bullock }} Sideshow is an episode of the second season of Batman: The Animated Series. It's the last episode to feature Killer Croc as the main villain and it's based on a classic story from the Batman comics. "Sideshow" was the first episode produced for the second season, rebranded as The Adventures of Batman & Robin, but it was the second episode aired, after House & Garden. "Sideshow" was the 66th produced episode overall. Synopsis En route to an upstate prison, Killer Croc escapes and leads Batman on a dangerous chase through the wilderness. After throwing Batman temporarily off his trail, the reptile-man takes refuge with a group of retired circus freaks, and convinces them to help him. When Batman arrives, Croc and the freaks band together to capture him. Plot After being declared sane, Killer Croc is being transferred to another prison by train, in which the security measures are lacking. As the train exits Gotham, Croc bites off his chains and knocks down the guards, but one of them manages to shoot a tranquilizer dart at Croc. The people in the nearby wagon notice the outbreak and they try to get a closer look at the freed criminal. However, among them is a disguised Bruce Wayne, who gets away from the rest of the crowd to change into his Batman outfit. Croc tries to get away running across the top of the train, but Batman gets him before he can get away and the two of them start a fight that ends up with the two of them falling off the train into a green forest below. The fall knocks down Batman but Croc is able to stand up. However, the effects of the tranquilizer dart start affecting him and when he tries to smash Batman's head with a rock, he misses the target and starts tumbling until he falls down the edge of a ridge. Croc gets on his feet and starts running at the opposite direction where Batman is. Batman recovers and follows the trail left by a clumsy Killer Croc, who is trying to reach the other end of a chasm by pulling down a tree across the void. Batman catches up with Croc, who just made it to the other side and is utterly exhausted for the effort. In desperation, Croc brings down some big rocks on Batman as he is crossing the tree. The Dark Knight tries to get a hold of the mountain with his Batrope, but in the end, the rocks force him to drop the rope and start climbing by the side of the mountain. Now having a great advantage over Batman, Croc runs away from the place, but the effects of the dart and the exhaustion get to him and he is unable to jump over to the next rock on the waterfall and he falls down to the river below. However, a little kid with legs and arms like flippers watches Croc falling and swims to get him and saves Croc from drowning. The little seal kid takes Croc to a place where his friends are and when Croc wakes up, he is welcomed by a group of people that belonged to a sideshow attraction. A giant, by the name Goliath, a hunchback called Richard, and Siamese Twins, May and June are all part of the group and they take Croc as one of them, since he looks "different". Meanwhile, Batman keeps climbing his way up the mountain and when he finally reaches the top, he starts following the long trail to find Croc. Croc stays at the place with the group of people and he tells them that he was also part of a freakshow and that he used to be chained and locked up inside a cage for their amusement. They empathize with Croc and they let him stay the night. They tell Croc that they were able to buy the place outside the city with some money they saved from their sideshow days, but that they still have fifty thousand dollars from that money in case they ever need it. That night, Croc starts looking for the money and when he finds it, he remembers how kind they have all been to him and puts it back, just when the little boy called Billy, catches him lurking in the dark. Croc lies to the kid by telling him he was looking for a blanket. Billy gets him one and they head back to sleep. Since they needed one bed for Croc, Goliath was sleeeping outside when Batman finds their place, approaches Goliath and tries to get him to reveal the location of Croc, but Goliath believes that Batman is one of the people that treated Croc as an animal and he attacks Batman with all his brute force. The fight wakes everybody on the house and Croc gets outside before anyone else. He notices Batman fighting Goliath and he joins the fight. Batman is overwhelmed by the combined forces of Goliath and Croc and he is locked inside a circus cage and ripped from his Utility Belt. Batman tries to talk to the group of people and tell them about Killer Croc's true nature but they are not willing to listen. Croc decides that it's time to get rid of Batman once and for all and he tries to kill him with a pitchfork, but he is stopped by Goliath and the group, who are against murder. Croc gets mad at them and he attacks Goliath, finally revealing his true nature. The group tell Croc that he is banned from their place, but Croc takes some knockout pellets from the utility belt and he uses them against the sideshow group. Croc locks them inside another cage and ties Goliath outside the cage to one of the cage's bars. Croc then takes their money from the hiding place and he picks up a gun which he is going to use to kill Batman, who is at the moment trying to move a wooden log from the wheel of the cage and he success just in time before Croc walks to him and points the gun at him. Batman moves the cage forward and it starts rolling towards Croc and starts going downhill until it crashes against some river rocks, freeing Batman. The gun is destroyed and Croc locks himself in the mill, just when Goliath escapes by bending the bars. Batman and Goliath try to storm the mill's door but it won't budge as Croc starts shooting at them from an upper window. Billy takes Batman to a secret underwater entrance to the mill and moments later, Batman gets right next to Croc's position. They start to fight and they end up fighting at the top of the mill's wheel. They fall down to the river and then they come up hanging from the wheel. However, Croc's body is crushed between the weel and the wood on top and he is finally knocked down. Moments later the Gotham City Police Department arrive at the scene and take away Croc, this time locked very tightly with a straight jacket and a head collar. Billy asks Croc why did he do all the bad things and he replies that he was just being himself, as Billy suggested. The police take away Croc as Batman watches the scene from the shadows. Cast Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes Category:Directed by Boyd Kirkland Category:Written by Michael Reaves Category:Soundtrack by Michael McCuistion Category:Animation by Dong Yang Animation Category:Killer Croc Episodes Category:Comic Adaptations